Baby shoe



Feb. 4, 1941. s. SPlRO BABY SHOE Filed July 26, 1940 Sam Spz'ru Patented Feb. 4, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to a new and improved baby shoe.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved shoe construction designed particular- 1y for babies wherein the shoe is so formed as to facilitate the placement of the shoe on the foot without undue bending of the foot.

Another object of this invention is to provide in a baby shoe a fairly pliable or flexible sole structure and a front and rear section secured to the sole structure, the rear section forming the quarter including a heel part and an upper, and the front section including a toe and vamp part and a tongue, with the front section free from the rear section, and with the front section at its rear underlapping the rear section when the shoe is in applied position.

A further object of this invention is to provide in a shoe of this type an improved lacing embodying the use of a pair of short laces and correlated means between the laces and the front section whereby the laces cannot be pulled out by the child.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a shoe of this type wherein the rear section is formed with an integral heel and upper and which is substantially stiff so as to form an ankle support.

A further object of this invention is to provide a shoe of this type in which the lacing extends through eyelets carried by the forward edges of the upper and in which the lacing also extends through the tongue so as to retain the tongue in position. A further object of this invention is to provide a fairly pliable baby shoe which may readily bend between the several parts thereof, but

which at the same time will retain its original shape.

To the foregoing objects and to others which may hereinafter appear, the invention consists of the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be more specifically referred to and illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein are shown embodiments of the invention, but it is to be understood that changes, variations and modifications may be resorted to which fall within the scope of the invention as claimed.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is.a detail side elevation of a baby shoe constructed according to an embodiment of this invention.

Figure 2 is a detail front elevation of the shoe in partly opened position.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 4--4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken 5 on the line 55 of Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 66 of Figure 1.

Figure '7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line l-'l of Figure 2. 10

Figure 8 is a fragmentary sectional view of a modified form of lace structure.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral l0 designates an outsole which is formed of fairly pliable or flexible leather or other suitable ma- 15 terial and the numeral ll designates generally the vamp, while the numeral l2 designates generally the quarter of the shoe. The outsole I0 is formed with inturned marginal edge portions M which are adapted to be stitched to the vamp 20 II by stitching IS. The lower edge of the vamp II is inturned as at E5 and the stitches l3 are adapted to extend only through the two inturned portions I 4 and I5.

An insole I6 is disposed within the shoe struca 2B ture, engaging on the inner surface of the outsole ill and preferably the insole I6 is adhesively secured to the outsole Ill. The marginal edge portions ll of the insole I6 engage over the stitched inturned portions l4 and I5 so that 80 these inturned portions will not chafe a foot.

The vamp ll includes a toe portion l8 which is formed with a pair of rearwardly extending and rearwardly tapering wings l9. The lower edges of the wings 19 form a continuation of 35 the toe portion I8 and the wings l9 at their lower edges are adapted to be stitched or otherwise secured to the outsole l0 after the manner shown in Figure 3. The upper edges of the wings H) are formed at their rear with an upwardly extending convex edge portion 20 and a reversely curved intermediate part 2| merging with convex upper edge 22. A combined tongue and vamp extension generally designated at 23 is stitched by stitching 24 to the rear edge of the 5 vamp I l and the upper edges of the wings IS.

The vamp extension 25 extends upwardly and rearwardly from the vamp l l and merges with the tongue 26. The vamp ll together with the wings l9 are formed of fairly stiff leather or 50 other suitable material whereas the vamp extension 25 and the tongue 26 are formed of two stitched pieces of fairly pliable or flexible leather so that when the shoe is in applied position, the vamp extension 25 may bend whereas the vamp II will remain fairly rigid. This will hold the toe portion or vamp of the shoe in its original condition or shape for a greater period of time than where the vamp extension 25 is formed of quite rigid material.

The quarter I2 is formed of a pair of members 21 and 28 which as shown in Figure 5 overlap each other at their rear edges and the overlapping rear edges of the two members 21 and 28 are stitched together as at 29. Each member 21 and 28 is formed of an outer flexible wall 30 and an inner flexible wall 3|. The two walls 30 and 3I are stitched together about their marginal edges by stitching 32 so as to form a doublewalled upper which will be fairly stiff so that it will serve as an ankle brace and support and so that the quarter I2 will be maintained in its original shape for a fairly long period of time and through fairly hard usage.

The quarter I2 is stitched as at 32 to the outsole II), the manner of stitching the quarter I2 to the outsole I0 being similar to that structure shown in Figure 3. The quarter I2 at its lower forward edge is formed with an upwardly and forwardly extending straight edge 33 which merges into a convex edge 34. The edge 34 merges with a reversely curved forward edge 35 which constitutes the forward edge of the quarter I2 where it extends .upwardly from the vamp extension 25. Each side portion 21 and 28 has secured thereto a pair of eyelets 36, the eyelets being in the form of grommets or the like. If desired, the quarter I'2 at its lower rear portion may have secured thereto a heel stiffening element 31. This stiffening element may if desired be interposed between the two wall members 30 and 3|.

The quarter I2 is unattached with respect to the vamp I I and the vamp extension 25 and also with respect to the tongue 26. The lower edge of each side-Wall-forming member 21 and 28 extends forwardly at its forward portion beyond the rear end of a wing I9 so that each side wall forming member will overlap the rear end of a wing as shown in Figure 1.

The quarter I2 is adapted to be held tightly or snugly on the foot by means of a pair of laces 38 and 39. The lace 38 is an upper lace and is threaded through the upper pair of eyelets 36 whereas the lace 33 is a lower lace and is threaded through a lower eyelet 36. Preferably the tongue 2'6 has a pair of narrow slits in the upper portion thereof through which the lace 38 is adapted to be threaded. The tongue 26 is also formed with a second or lower pair of slits 4| through which the lace 39 is adapted to be threaded.

Each lace is preferably formed with an enlargement 42 which is formed by cutting a lace and overlapping the cut ends and then securing the overlapping ends together by stitching 43 as shown in Figure '7. The lace enlargement 42 is adapted to be disposed on the rear or underside of the tongue 26 between the slits so that when the laces are in applied position, that is, threaded through the slits 40 and 41 and the eyelets 36, the laces 38 and 39 will be held against endwise movement. Through the medium of the enlarge ment 42, the tongue 26 will be held against twisting or rearward shifting between the open sides of the quarter I2 and in addition a small child will not be able to pull the laces 38 and 39 completely out of the shoe.

By providing a shoe as hereinbefore described, the shoe may be placed on or removed from the foot by bending the sole as at 44. The outsole Ill together with the insole I6 form an integral hinge structure for hingedly connecting the quarter I2 onto the Vamp II. The quarter I2 may be bent downwardly as shown in dotted lines in Figure 1 so that the toe portion of the childs foot may be inserted in the vamp II whereupon the quarter I2 may be raised and the laces 38 and 39 threaded through the eyelets 36. As shown in dotted lines in Figure l, the rear edges of the tongue 26 are substantially vertical when the shoe is in applied position. Through the use of a shoe as hereinbefore described, the shoe may be readily applied on or removed from the foot without unduly bending the foot so that this shoe will not cause a child to distort its foot during the time that the shoe is being applied on or removed from the foot.

This shoe may be constructed without undue increase in the cost of the shoe and at the same time the shoe will retain its original attractive appearance for a longer period of time than is possible with shoes of a different type not embodying the features of this invention.

In Figure 8 there is shown a slightly modified form of this invention wherein the tongue 26 has lacings 38 extending through the slits 40. The lacings 3B are formed of a single length of lacing, each lacing being folded double in substantially the center as at 42 and the double folds stitched as at 43 so as to form an enlargement which will not pass through the slits 40*.

What I claim is: J

In a shoe including a sole, a quarter and a vamp, said quarter overlying said vamp and free therefrom and having eyelets at its free edges, a

tongue carried by said vamp and underlying the quarter and free therefrom and having pairs of slits aligning with said eyelets, a lace engaging through a pair of eyelets in the quarter and a pair of slits in the tongue, and an enlargement carried by said lace between a pair of slits and constituting a stop means to hold said lace against withdrawal.

SAM SPIRO. 

